Sports and Spirits

We sit down with Ana Maria Romero Mena of Mijenta Tequila at Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans to learn more about the brand and the craftmanship behind it. 

Exciting show this week as we kick off our Tales of the Cocktail coverage for 2024. We start by visiting with Master Distiller and Founder of Kilinga Bacanora Rodrigo Bojorquez. Bacanora is a spirit made from agave but is different from Tequila. This interview really breaks down the genre and the characteristics of Bacanora. Plus we get the backstory of Kilinga and taste a couple of the expression...

We back! Sort of. Hank is flying solo this week with Matt still on the mend from his recent trip to the Pacific Northwest. Details on that next week. In the meantime, it's early June. Plenty to talk about in the sports world with college baseball, MLB, and the NBA Finals underway.  For our spirits content this week we check in with Jeff Naples of Reyka Vodka. We caught up with him last summer at T...

College football is back! We take a look at the opening weekend of games and discuss the early polls. The usual suspects are in the top 5 but will those teams be there in the end? And what did the polls get wrong. Matt and Hank take an early look at the season.  Then at  24:00 we sit down with David Allardice at Tales of the Cocktail. Really fun chat with him about Glenfiddich and the latest they...

Back with a big show this week! Matt and Hank get caught up on the latest in Major League Baseball and their thoughts on the standings. Are the Braves the team to beat? Plus college football is right around the corner. Our thoughts on the state of the game with conference realignment in full swing. After that we are honored to be joined on the show by Lynn House with Heaven Hill brands and Elijah...

Super fun show this week and something that epitomizes the meaning of Sports and Spirits. We sit down with John Cubelic, co-founder of Dread River Distillery in Birmingham, AL. This is a great conversation about how he got to the point of wanting to start a distillery and what that process was like.  For the first time ever Dread River Distilling will be partnering with Big Machine Music City Gran...

Big show this week! Settle in for a great show 'live' from Tales of the Cocktail. Hank and Nathan site down with Lead Blender Amanda Beckwith and Head of Advocacy Jenny Wren to learn all about Virginia Distillery and their Courage and Conviction Whisky. We recorded it in person during Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans.  This show is packed with information about the distillery, their single mal...

A great show this week as we are joined by Neal Bodenheimer. Tales of the Cocktail is right around the corner so we get his take on what this festival means for the service industry and why New Orleans is the perfect place for it.  Plus we learn about his book " Cure: New Orleans Drinks and How to Mix 'Em" along with some of his other projects. It's a quick but insightful interview to get you read...

We're back! As we head towards Father's Day weekend we are giving you a great gift idea for the grill dad in your life. We talk with Casa M Spices to learn about their line of low sodium seasonings and rubs. These are all really good, and such a great option for anybody looking to avoid the normal high sodium options. Check that out at  24:30.  Before that we give our thoughts on the recent NBA ch...

Another huge show this week! We talk with Brendan Raulerson of Glen Moray. He takes us through some samples and lets us know what makes Glen Moray unique. We taste four different expressions, all unique and really good. Plus some sports talk on baseball playoffs and a big weekend in college football. Thanks for listening! 

Back this week with a fantastic interview! We really hope you stick around for all of this one. Hank sits down with Shochu expert and founder of Honkaku Spirits Christopher Pellegrini at 13:30 . He has a fanstastic story to tell about how he got into Shochu and moved to Japan. If you're not familiar with this spirit it is a really interesting genre. Shochu is the national spirit of Japan and Chris...

We have another great show for you this week! Stay tuned for a tremendous interview with William and Don Ray of Craft Standard coming up at 26 minutes . This is a draft cocktail company. They are reinventing the way cocktails are served at large and small venues. Really interesting stuff.  Before and after that we are giving you our NFL picks ahead of opening weekend. We talk about who we think is...

The big weekend is finally here. College football is back in a big way with a full slate of games and we are fired up about it. Big show this week that we start with a discussion of the current state of the game with the transfer portal and NIL deals.  Then we get to our featured guest of the week at  24:00. Ryan Brooks of SouthNorte beverage company joins us to talk about their line of ready to d...

The wait is over! We finally have college football back this weekend. We will get in to our full season preview next week, but we do discuss some of the opening games, some over/under predictions, and some general takeaways of the upcoming season.  Then a great interview at  30:30 with Five Trail Whiskey. We talk with Alberto Farias, General Manager of Molson Coors Beverage Company along with thei...

Big show this week! We start off with our thoughts on the MLB standings as things sit right now. It's really a 3 team race in the National League and 2 in the American League to us right now but see if you agree.  Then a huge interview at 21:30 with Ivan Saldana, one of the co-founders of Casa Lumbre Spirits. This stuff is awesome. All locally sourced products from Mexico and California. Amazing f...

It's been quite a layoff and quite a two year stretch for everyone. We missed the show and bringing you stories from the spirits world and talking sports so we are finally back. Season 7 kicks off with Matt and Hank getting back into the swing of things with a brief discussion of the state of college football. We'll talk more on that in the coming weeks.  But we start back up with content from the...

We are back with our Super Bowl preview edition! It is so nice to be back with you making shows again after our schedule got thrown off the past few months. We are back in a big way this week though leading up to the Super Bowl.  We start with our buddy Raphael Esparza at  9:00 minutes to break down the sports betting angle. This guy is always loaded with info plus a ton of prop bets for the game....

We are just a week away from the New Orleans Bourbon Festival! Join us as we talk with founder Tracy Napolitano on how much it has grown and what you can expect this year. It's amazing in year number 4 where this has gone.  Plus we will have some early March Madness thoughts.  Get info and tickets at: http://www.neworleansbourbonfestival.com/  

Big show this week as we get ready for the start of NASCAR with the upcoming Daytona 500. Plus some new rules for baseball this year. We discuss the headliner about pitchers. After that we bring in Tracie Franklin ( https://www.instagram.com/spirited_tracie/?hl=en ) of Glenfiddich. Always fun to catch up with her at Tales of the Cocktail. We talk about a lot, including their scotch Fire and Cane. 

Great interview this week! One of our favorite products out there. We sit down with Neil Strachan of The Balvenie . This is from Tales of the Cocktail a few months back but some great info on some new whisky they have out. A little different from what you're used too. That comes after a brief Super Bowl Recap.  Thanks for listening! 

It's Super Bowl weekend! We are back with our latest show to get you set for the game and surrounding fun. We'll give you our thoughts on the game and make our picks. Then bring in Raphael Esparza at 28:00 for all the betting insights you need. Then at 43:00 we talk with Chef Isaac Toups and the NFL's Party with a Purpose. 

Back with a big show this week. Great interview from Tales of the Cocktail with Edoardo Branca of Fernet Branca. Then our analysis of college football conference championship weekend and playoff scenarios. Plus NFL thoughts, random Star Wars discussion, and the usual shenanigans. 

We back! After a hiatus due to various life circumstances Hank and Matt are back with a new show. After a quick re-introduction we go right to our feature spirit of the week, Knappogue Castle Irish Whiskey.  It's a brand we weren't too familiar with but it is great. We sit down with Philip Duff, Brand Ambassador, at Tales of the Cocktail to learn more.  After that we're talking NCAA and NFL footba...

Big show this week as we finish up our tasting and discussion with Don Q Rum Global Ambassador Alexx Mouzouris. Such a great time with him at Tales of the Cocktail.  After that we will give some early thoughts on the MLB playoffs, then the upcoming weekend of college and NFL football! 

We're back! After a brief hiatus thanks to Matt's many travels the show is back this week. We continue our Tales of the Cocktail content with some great stuff from Don Q Rum. Global Ambassador Alexx Mouzouris tells us all about the brand and walks us through the many different offerings.  Plus we'll talk about MLB and NFL as we roll to the end of September.  Thanks for listening!